WATCH: How does The Associated Press call 2026 midterm election winners? 4 things to know

Thousands of races across the country this Election Day will determine who controls Congress and who will be governors, mayors and representatives in communities across the U.S.

Elections are run and ballots are counted by thousands of local jurisdictions across the country. The Associated Press, which PBS News relies on to monitor these elections, tracks results. Knowing how many voters actually showed up is critical to knowing when a race is over.

Deema Zein spoke to David Scott, vice president of election services at the Associated Press, about how the AP does its work.

Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.

Sign up for Here’s The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: https://to.pbs.org/41q6E8i
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6

Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
X: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newshour/